ART. 12 



BIRDS OF ST. LAVv'EEXCE ISLAXD — FRIEDMAN N 



In another place he writes of the advent of summer on the island. 

 On May 28 winter was still in full possession of the place, but 11 days 

 later he found — 



* * * the dwarf willows, tlrabas, erigerons, and saxifrages pn^liing up 

 their buds and leaves, on spots bare of snow, with wonderful rapidity. This 

 was the begiimiug of spring at the northwest end of the island. On July 4 the 

 flora seemed to have reached its highest development. The bottoms of the 

 * * * valleys were in many places covered with tall grasses and carices 

 evenly planted and forming nieadoAvs of considerable size, while the drier por- 

 tions, and the sloping grounds about them were enlivened with gay, highly 

 colored flowers, * * * 



The environmental conditions existing at present in St. Lawrence 

 Island are very different from those that obtained there in the Ter- 

 tiary, but the avifauna is wholly that of the surrounding tundra 





/VOf^TH CAPE 



CAPe KUHULIAH 



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SOUTf^lnfSST CAPe 



^ourne/iST CAPE 



.yoprffCAST 

 cspe 



S^sr CAPS 



\.Pi/fVUK /SLANO 

 CAPE HiALt'eAK 



Figure 2. — St. Lawrence Island, Bering Sea, showing localities mentioned in this 



paper 



country of Siberia on the one hand and of Alaska on the other. At 

 the suggestion of Prof. R. W. Chaney, of the Carnegie Institution 

 of Washington, Collins searched for, and found, fossiliferous shales 

 of Tertiary age, which, on examination, proved to contain remains 

 of sequoias, poplars, and other plants. The former existence of the.se 

 trees on the island, now so destitute of arboreal vegetation, is looked 

 upon by Chaney as strong evidence of a former land connection 

 across Bering Straits between Siberia and Alaska, as sequoias have 

 been found in a fossilized state in both those regions and in Mongolia y 

 although thej' are now restricted in living condition to California. 

 That the birds do not reflect the history of the island is not remark- 

 able, as the distance from the west end of the island to Siberia is only 

 some 40 miles, a readily negotiable flight for any of the birds now 

 inhabiting it. 



